Embers at Galdrilene (7 page)

“I wish I had my quarterstaff,” he whispered. His throwing knives wouldn’t be much help if more than a few tried to capture them.

Serena rolled her eyes. “Why? So you can give yourself away? Do you really want them stopping you and asking why you’re in possession of a weapon? You’re supposed to be a woman. You can’t go running around with a quarterstaff. Might as well wave a sword around while you’re at it.”

She was right, of course. A woman with a quarterstaff would draw as much attention as a man of the Mallay with a sword. At least he had his knives. If the Keepers tried to arrest them, maybe he could at least make sure Serena got away.

They approached the gate where two large knots of horses and their riders stood on either side, one group bearing the red on blue of the city guard, the other bearing the red on yellow of the Keepers. Kellinar kept his head down respectfully, like all of the others passing through.

Watching from beneath the edge of the scarf, he tensed when their eyes came to rest on him, and then swept away to those behind him. It was slow moving; the guards stopped wagons to search them and knocked the hats off the young men as they passed by. Kellinar’s shoulders and neck started to ache from the tension that built with each step closer to the gate.

They passed by the guards and under the massive arch in the stone wall. They had almost cleared the arch when a voice shouted out, “You, halt!” Kellinar froze, along with everyone else. The sound of boots, pounding across the paving stones, echoed in the sudden silence. Kellinar’s chest tightened, his heart pounded. Sweat ran down the sides of his face, he turned to look. The crowd backed away as the Keepers ran toward him. Kellinar was on the verge of running, when a young man tripped and fell at his feet. His hair was pale blond and cut short like Kellinar’s.

The Keepers grabbed the man’s arms and hauled him to his feet. They dragged him away as he fought them. “It wasn’t me! I’m innocent! It wasn’t me!” Kellinar tried to shut out the man’s terrified screams.

He felt a shove and noticed the crowd had started to move again, this time at a quicker pace. Everyone wanted to get away from the gate as quickly as they could. Kellinar moved with the crowd as it passed out from under the arch and into the light of the early morning sun. Another set of guards and Keepers sat on horses outside the gates, but none seemed to notice him. Serena was right. They were looking for a young man, not a scarf-wrapped woman.

A breeze sprang up, cool and refreshing against Kellinar‘s face. Behind the city wall and at the base of a cliff, the Mallay District rarely felt the breeze like this. He sucked in a deep breath and let it out in a relieved sigh. Now that they were on the road, the crowd spread out. Many of them were headed to the smaller villages clustered around the city. Some of those on the road were headed toward the city with wagons full of goods. Some wagons carried early vegetables, others carried sacks of last year’s grain and still others, stone or lumber or wood for cook fires. The road was a hazardous place for those of the Mallay. Their clothes clearly defined them and they were pushed roughly out of the way by those from higher districts.

They moved at a steady pace all morning, their way becoming easier the farther they got from Trilene. The road became less crowded. Fewer wagons pressed close together, and best of all in Kellinar’s eyes, few Trilene residents came this far out. Most went no further than the small villages that dotted the countryside around the city, to the vast vineyards to the east, or the sizable lake dotted with small fishing vessels to the northwest.

By mid-day, they left most of the crowd behind. Hunger gnawed at Kellinar. He glanced at Serena, trudging along next to him. “We need to stop and eat.”

Serena nodded. “I’m starving.” She stepped into the thick trees that lined the west side of the road. They continued to walk for a small distance before coming to a small clearing where they were sure they wouldn’t be bothered by anyone.

Serena turned her back while Kellinar worked off the dress and undergarment. He was more than ready to be out of it. He gratefully pulled his own clothes on then looked at Serena. “Please tell me you don’t need this Fate-forsaken dress.”

The sound of her soft laughter floated to him. “No, I don’t need the dress. It would be much too big for me and this is neither the time nor the place to begin alterations.”

“Good, I don’t ever want to see it again.” He tossed the garment on the ground.

“Are you ready to eat?” she asked.

Kellinar tucked the last of his knives away in their hiding places. “I was ready to eat hours ago.”

She turned and began unpacking the pitas she’d made that morning. “We don’t have much.”

He shrugged. “It will be better than nothing.” He ate the food with relish. He loved the morning pitas and didn’t know how long it would be before he got to eat them again.

When they were finished, Serena handed him the lined leather water bag. “I have a little more pita bread and cheese, but it won’t last long. I have a small amount of coin. We might be able to buy some food from a farm or something, once we’re far enough away.”

Kellinar patted his coin purse. “I have my money pouch as well, so we won’t be beggars for quite some time. I wish I’d had time to gather all of my coin together, we would’ve lived comfortably until we found a place to settle.”

“Well since you couldn’t, we’ll just make do with what we have.”

They walked back through the trees to the road and once again headed north.

They settled down that night in a clump of tall bushes near the road. After eating another small meal, they wrapped up in the thin blankets Serena had packed and tried to fall asleep. In the deep black of the moonless night, she found the countryside rather unnerving. Even in the Mallay, the city guard lit the street lamps at dusk.

“I thought it was supposed to be quiet away from the city,” grumbled Kellinar.

The constant hum and chirps of night bugs filled Serena’s ears. “I guess insect sounds aren’t supposed to count.”

She heard him shift restlessly in the dark. “Why does it feel like we’re being watched?”

“I think it’s just the dark. I never realized how much light the lamp posts put out.”

“It’s as dark as dragon scales is what it is. I can’t see a flaming thing out here.”

She rolled over and pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders. “Well, maybe that’s a good thing. If we can’t see anything, then no one can see us either, right?”

“Maybe.”

The sharp cries and howls of a pack of coyotes echoed somewhere in the distance. Sleep was going to be a long time coming.

A
fter leaving the cluster of towns near the walls of Trilene, the road ran alongside open fields. In many of these, horses pulled heavy iron plows while the farmer worked to hold the handles and keep it going straight. Kellinar watched with interest when they passed them. It looked like a difficult way to make a living.

They walked into a tiny village as the sun set on their fifth day of travelling. The road ran straight through the middle and they shared it with only the local people, none of whom turned more than a curious eye on the strangers. A tiny inn sat on the far edge of the village. Only a single story building with a thatched roof, it couldn’t hold more than half a dozen rooms.

Kellinar glanced at Serena. “Do you want stay at the inn for the night?”

“It would be a lot nicer than the bushes.”

“Do you think it’s safe?”

She shrugged. “We haven’t seen a single Keeper since we left. A night in a bed and a plate of hot food would be wonderful. At some point we have to stop somewhere, it might as well be here.”

They crossed a wide porch and walked through the door. Three long tables took up one side of the small, main room. The inn couldn’t possibly house as many guests as could sit at the tables. The locals probably gathered here on a regular basis. In the warmth of the afternoon, no fire burned in the large stone hearth behind the tables, though fresh wood for the evening was already stacked in it.

A man with short gray hair and a web of fine lines on his face walked into the room. “What can I do for you?”

Kellinar smiled. “We need rooms for the night and a meal.”

The man’s eyes flicked to Serena and back again. “Rooms?”

Kellinar heard the emphasis on the plural in the innkeeper’s question and guessed the confusion. He probably thought Serena to be Kellinar’s wife or lover. “Yes, rooms. Thank you.”

The innkeeper glanced at Serena again and cleared his throat. “Of course, right this way.” They followed him through the main room and around the corner to a hallway that ran the length of the building. In one direction, six doors lined one side of the hall. The other direction looked like it led to the kitchen. The innkeeper gave him a room midway down the hall and Serena the one right next door.

Kellinar set the bag with his extra knives and change of clothes on the floor. He glanced at the narrow bed. The mattress didn’t look lumpy; hopefully it wouldn’t be hard as a board. He walked to the small table, poured a little water from the pitcher into the wash basin, and rinsed the dust of travel from his hands and face.

Once back in the main room, he stopped to pay the innkeeper for their stay. With the account settled, he joined Serena at a table where a middle aged woman served them their meal and pitcher of spiced wine. Only three other people occupied the room and the two of them had one long table to themselves.

Kellinar ate the thick vegetable stew and heavy dark brown bread with relish. It was a welcome change from the cheese and pita bread. While he ate, he listened idly to the conversation between the innkeeper and one of the patrons. As he sopped up the last of the liquid in his bowl with the bread, the word ‘Keepers’ caught his attention.

He pretended total concentration on soaking up every bit of liquid while he eavesdropped on the conversation. A brief glance at Serena showed him she had heard it too. She stiffened slightly, her hand frozen part way to her mouth. He tapped her foot with his own and gave a slight shake of his head. She finished putting the food in her mouth, her eyes on the stew in her bowl.

“He escaped is what I heard,” the innkeeper said.

“Why would anyone want to escape? If it was me, I would be running for the gallows. Gives me chills just thinking about something like that.” The other man shivered.

The innkeeper bobbed his head. “I agree. No way would I want to live with that.”

The serving woman passed by and Kellinar heard her hiss at the innkeeper, “Arivin, what are you doing discussing such things in the main room? You should know better.”